Sights in Bolivia
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Salar de Uyuni
The world's largest salt flat sits at a lofty 3653m (11,985ft) and blankets an amazing 12,000 sq km (4633 sq mi). It was part of a prehistoric salt lake, Lago Minchín, which once covered most of southwest Bolivia. When it dried up, it left a couple of seasonal puddles and several salt pans, including the Salar de Uyuni. The savage beauty of this vast salt desert makes it one of South America's most awe-inspiring spectacles.
From strange islands in a sea of blindingly bright salt to delicately colored mineral lakes in the Andean mountains, this is an unforgettable Bolivian landscape.
However, travellers should take great care in choosing which tour operator to go with…
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Lake Titicaca
Traditionally regarded as the highest navigable body of water in the world (though there are higher lakes in Chile and Peru), Lake Titicaca is immense: its dimensions measure 233km (145mi) from northwest to southeast and 97km (60mi) from northeast to southwest, and it features an indented shoreline, 36 islands and exceptionally clear sapphire-blue water.
Titicaca is revered by the Indians who live on its shores; the Islas del Sol and de la Luna, two islands in the lake, are legendary sites in Incan creation myths.
The main town in the area is Copacabana, which has a sparkling white Moorish-style cathedral and is host to the Fiesta de la Virgen de Candelaria. Isla Suriqui…
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Cristo de la Concordia
This immense statue stands atop Cerro de San Pedro behind Cochabamba. It's a few centimeters higher than the famous Cristo Redentor in Rio de Janeiro, which stands 33m high, or one meter for each year of Christ's life. Cochabambinos justify the one-upmanship by claiming that Christ actually lived 33 años y un poquito (33 years and a bit).
There's a footpath from the base of the mountain (1250 steps) but several robberies have been reported, particularly around sunset. Safer and sweatless is the teleférico (cable car). On Sunday, you can climb right to the top of the statue and get an even better overview of the city.
The closest public transportation access is on micro…
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Convento de Santa Teresa
The most interesting building in town is the noble, timeworn Convento de Santa Teresa. Visits to this timeless and gracefully decaying complex are by guided tour only and provide a snapshot of the extraordinary lives led by the cloistered nuns that inhabit it. You see the peaceful cloister, fine altarpieces and sculptures (from Spanish and Potosí schools), the convent church, and even get to ascend to the roof for a glorious view over the city. The convent was founded in 1760, then destroyed in an earthquake; the new church was built with an excess of ambition, and was too big to be domed. The existing church was built inside it in 1790. There’s still a Carmelite…
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Parque Nacional Amboró
This extraordinary park crosses two 'divides': the warmer northern Amazonian-type section, and the southern Yungas-type section, with cooler temperatures (and fewer mosquitoes!). The village of Buena Vista is a staging point for trips into the spectacular forested northern lowland section of Parque Nacional Amboró.
For a park entry permit and cabin reservations visit Buena Vista's Sernap office, two blocks south of the plaza. There are several places to sleep and eat, and camping is also possible in the park. Try the basic Residencial Nadia (tel: 932 2049), where the owner is a good source of park information. For food, Los Franceses has a savory menu and a jovial très…
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National Mint
The National Mint is Potosí’s star attraction and one of South America’s finest museums. Potosí’s first mint was constructed on the present site of the Casa de Justicia in 1572 under orders from the Viceroy of Toledo. This, its replacement, is a vast and strikingly beautiful building that takes up a whole city block. It was built between 1753 and 1773 to control the minting of colonial coins; legend has it that when the king of Spain saw the bill for its construction, he exclaimed ‘that building must be made of silver’ (expletive presumably deleted). These coins, which bore the mint mark ‘P, ’ were known as potosís.
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Mercado Cancha Calatayud
Cochabamba is Bolivia's biggest market town. The main market is the enormous La Cancha, which is one of the most crowded, chaotic, claustrophobic and exhilarating spots in the country. Around the markets you'll find just about everything imaginable, but keep an eye out for pickpockets.
The largest and most accessible area is Mercado Cancha Calatayud, which sprawls across a wide area along Av Aroma and south toward the former railway station. Here is your best opportunity to see local dress, which differs strikingly from that of the Altiplano.
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Museo de Arte Contemporáneo
Better modern art may be found in various other collections around town, but this private museum wins the gold star for the most interesting building: a restored 19th-century mansion (only one of four left on the Prado) with a glass roof and stained-glass panels designed by Gustave Eiffel. The museum’s eclectic collection housed over three floors is a mix of reasonable – but not mind-blowing – Bolivian and international work. You might catch an interesting temporary exhibition.
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El Fuerte
Designated in 1998 as a Unesco World Heritage site, El Fuerte occupies a hill-top about 10km from the village and offers breathtaking views across the rugged transition zone between the Andes and low-lying areas further east. There are two observation towers that allow visitors to view the ruins from above. Allow at least two hours to fully explore the complex, and take sunscreen and a hat with you. There is a kiosk with food and water next to the ticket office.
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Coca Museum
Chew on some facts inside the small, slightly tired Coca Museum, which explores the sacred leaf’s role in traditional societies, its use by the soft-drink and pharmaceutical industries, and the growth of cocaine as an illicit drug. The displays (ask for a translation in your language) are educational, provocative and evenhanded.
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Cretaceous Park
This slick theme park has a number of life-size models of dinosaurs, as well as an audio-visual display, optional guided tours and a restaurant. From the terrace, you can examine the tracks on the rock face opposite with binoculars, though the exposed prints are increasingly eroded with every passing winter.
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Mirador Laikakota
The Mirador Laikakota - part of Kusillo Cultural Complex & Children's Museum - is in a tranquil park setting and is perfect for kids.
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Cooperative Mines
A visit to the Cooperative Mines will almost surely be one of the most memorable experiences you'll have in Bolivia, providing an opportunity to witness working conditions that are among the most grueling imaginable. You may be left stunned and/or ill.In the cooperative mines on Cerro Rico, all work is done with primitive tools, and underground temperatures vary from below freezing - the altitude is over 4200m - to a stifling 45°C on the fourth and fifth levels.
Miners, exposed to all sorts of noxious chemicals and gases, normally die of silicosis pneumonia within 10 to 15 years of entering the mines.
Contrary to popular rumor, women are admitted to many cooperative…
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Museo & Convento de Santa Teresa
The fascinating Santa Teresa Convent was founded in 1685 and is still home to a small community of Carmelite nuns. One of them is an architect, and has directed a superb restoration project that has converted part of the sizeable building into a museum. The excellent guided tour (Spanish & English) explains how girls of fifteen from wealthy families entered the convent, getting their last glimpse of parents and loved ones at the door.
Entry was a privilege, paid for with a sizeable dowry; a good portion of these offerings are on display in the form of religious artwork.
There are numerous fine pieces, including a superb Madonna by Castilian sculptor Alonso Cano, and…
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Rhythms of Life
Australian artist Andrew Rogers, not content with sculpture on a conventional scale, has included Potosí as one of the sites for his fascinating global 'Rhythms of Life' project, where enormous, fluid, powerful, stone forms have been built in sites as diverse as Sri Lanka, Australia, and Israel.
Rogers has endowed Potosí with three geoglyphs. Two adjacent ones, Circles and Presence, have their inspiration in ancient rock art found in the Potosí area. The third, on a hill near Cerro Rico, and the artistic centerpiece, is a complex, inspirational abstract figure named Rhythms of Life and derived from a Rogers bronze sculpture in Melbourne. But on a massive scale - the…
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Mercado de Hechicería
The city's most unusual market, 'Witches' Market', lies amid lively tourist artesanía (local handcraft) shops. What they're selling isn't exactly witchcraft in the Hollywood sense; the merchandise is mainly herbs and folk remedies, as well as a few more unorthodox ingredients intended to manipulate the various spirits worshipped by the local Aymará people.
If you're building a new house, for example, you can buy a llama fetus to bury beneath the cornerstone as a cha'lla (offering) to Pachamama, encouraging her to inspire good luck therein. This practice is strictly for poor campesinos, however; wealthier Bolivians are expected to sacrifice a fully functioning llama. If…
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Islas Flotantes
The unique Islas Flotantes (floating islands) of the Uros people are Lake Titicaca's top tourist attraction. Although their popularity has led to massive over-commercialization, there is still nothing quite like them anywhere else in the world. The biggest island has several buildings, including a school, post office and an overabundance of souvenir shops.
Always a small tribe, the Uros began their unusual floating existence centuries ago in an effort to isolate themselves from aggressors. Today, several hundred people still live on the islands and eke out a living with fishing and tourism. The inhabitants of the most touristed islands have also built rickety observation…
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San Pedro Prison
San Pedro's fame is that it functions unlike any other prison: there are no guards inside, the inmates don't wear uniforms, there are no curfews and the prisoners have to work to be able to pay for their cells, which they have to rent or buy depending on their financial situation. This infamous prison is now quite a hard place to visit.
Inside, it's like a little town. The prison is divided into eight areas. There is a clear hierarchy between the different areas, and some are richer, brighter and (supposedly) safer, while others are dark, dingy and rough. During the day, the violence is contained and prisoners play cards, football and do their work, but life gets rough at…
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Parque Cretácico (Cal Orck'o)
It seems that 65 million years ago the site of Sucre's Fancesa cement quarry, six kilometers from the centre, was the place to be for large, scaly types. When the grounds were being cleared in 1994, plant employees uncovered a nearly vertical mudstone face bearing over 6000 tracks - some of which measure up to 80cm in diameter - from over 150 different species of dinosaur.
While you once could go right up to the tracks, these days you have to be content with gazing at them from the brand-new Parque Cretácico (Cal Orck'o). This slick, family-friendly visitors centre has a couple of dozen scary life-size models of dinosaurs, as well as an audiovisual display and a…
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Cathedral
Just east of the main plaza, the cathedral has fine stained-glass above the altar. The adjacent tower was constructed by the Jesuits as part of a church before Oruro was founded. When the Jesuits were expelled, it was designated as the cathedral of the Oruro bishopric.
In 1994, the original baroque entrance was moved and reconstructed at the Santuario de la Virgen del Socavón (Virgin of the Grotto), which presents a grand city view. It was here that 16th-century miners began worshipping the Virgen de Candelaria, the patron of Oruro miners. The present church, which is a 19th-century reconstruction of the 1781 original, figures prominently in Oruro's Carnaval as the site…
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Ingenio Dolores
On the banks (la ribera) of the Río Huana Mayu, in the upper Potosí barrios of Cantumarca and San Antonio, are some fine ruined examples of the ingenios, or smelters. These were formerly used to extract silver from the ore hauled out of Cerro Rico. There were originally 82 ingenios along 15km of the stream. Some remaining ones date back to the 1570s and were in use until the mid-1800s.
Each ingenio consists of a floor penetrated by shallow wells (buitrones) where the ore was mixed with mercury and salt. The ore was then ground by millstones that were powered by water that was impounded in the 32 artificial Lagunas de Kari Kari.
The Ingenio Dolores, on Calle Mejillones,…
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La Paz Cemetery
As in most Latin American cemeteries, bodies are buried in the traditional Western way or placed in a crypt. Within 10 years, they are disinterred and cremated. After cremation, families purchase or rent glass-fronted spaces in the cemetery walls for the ashes, affix plaques and mementos of the deceased and place flowers behind the glass door.
Each wall has hundreds of these doors, and some of the walls have expanded upward to such an extent that they resemble three- or four-story apartment blocks. As a result the cemetery is an active place, full of people passing through to visit relatives.
There are also huge family mausoleums, as well as sections dedicated to mine…
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Tiahuanaco (Tiwanaku)
Although no one is certain whether it was the capital of a nation, Tiahuanaco undoubtedly served as a great ceremonial center. At its peak, the city had a population of 20,000 inhabitants. While only a small percentage of the original site has been excavated, Tiahuanaco represents the greatest megalithic architectural achievement of pre-Inca South America.
Tiahuanaco's most outstanding structure is the Akapana pyramid, which was built on an existing geological formation. At its base, this roughly square hill covers a surface area of about 200 sq m (2152 sq ft). In the center of the flat summit is an oval-shaped sunken area, which some sources attribute to early,…
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El Fuerte
Designated in 1998 as a Unesco World Heritage Site, El Fuerte occupies a hilltop with breathtaking views across the rugged transition zone between the Andes and low-lying areas further east. The mysterious pre-Inca site exudes such pulling power that visitors from all over come to Samaipata just to see its remains.
The purpose of El Fuerte has long been debated, and there are several theories. Early conquerors assumed the site had been used for defense, hence its Spanish name, 'the fort,' though there is no actual fort on the site. In 1832, French naturalist Alcides d'Orbigny proclaimed that the pools and parallel canals had been used for washing gold. In 1936, German…
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Museo Arqueológico
The Museo Arqueológico has an excellent overview of Bolivia’s various indigenous cultures. The collection is split into three sections: the archaeological collection, the ethnographic collection and the paleontological collection. The first deals primarily with indigenous culture from the Cochabamba region. Look out for the Tiwanaku section; their shamans used to snort lines of hallucinogenic powder through elegant bone tubes. The ethnographic collection provides material from Amazonian and Chaco cultures including examples of non-alphabetized writing, which is from the 18th century and was used to bring Christianity to the illiterate Indians. The paleontological…
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